"How is that possible?!"
Levi stood beside Mobius, watching as Huohuo collected one heliobus after another into containers.
As he listened to Mobius's conspiracy theory about him, he kept a straight face.
As the administrator of the chat group, Levi always put the lives and well-being of his group members first. How could he possibly do something like scheme against them?
Besides...
"How could Mobius, whose intelligence is at the pinnacle of humanity, possibly fall for someone else's little tricks?"
"Don't you agree?"
Mobius said nothing. Her gaze continued to scrutinize Levi.
She stared at him so intently that even Levi himself began to feel a little guilty.
Although he had no idea what he was feeling guilty about.
"I'll just assume what you said is true."
Mobius didn't dwell on the matter too much. Back when she worked for MOTH, hadn't those politicians schemed against her plenty of times?
She had long since gotten used to it.
But she still felt somewhat displeased.
That was a fact she couldn't change.
"I want to see the laboratory and my new body tomorrow morning."
"Tomorrow morning?"
Levi was taken aback. That was cutting it a little close, though the body itself wasn't a problem.
After all, he already had one ready at home.
It wouldn't hurt to let Mobius make do with it for now.
No, calling it "making do" wasn't right.
The scientific technology used to create that body was top-tier, even in a world as technologically advanced as Honkai: Star Rail.
Mobius could use it as her body to move around in this world.
All she had to do in exchange was serve as bait for a while, helping the Ten-Lords Commission capture the escaped heliobi.
Afterward, if Levi put in a few good words for her, Mobius could win the Ten-Lords Commission's favor again.
Mobius was practically making a fortune out of this deal.
"...Now that I think about it.", Levi muttered under his breath.
He felt like the God of Wealth, scattering money everywhere.
Not long ago, he had already had quite a few credits stolen by Lumine. Now he had promised Mobius that he would buy her a laboratory on the Luofu.
That was another considerable expense.
The only good news, probably, was that...
It wasn't his own money.
Asta: "?"
———
After Huohuo had collected the heliobi one by one into containers, Levi took Mobius around the Garden of Plenty to catch the remaining heliobi scattered throughout the area.
During their search, they encountered Xueyi and Hanya, who were on patrol.
However, the two had other matters to attend to. After briefly asking about the progress of Guinaifen's team, they hurriedly left.
"Remember what you promised me."
After leaving him with those words, Mobius disappeared before his eyes and returned to her previous location, the Elysian Realm.
Levi, meanwhile, said goodbye to Guinaifen and the others, preparing to look around the area near Central Starskiff Haven for a suitable place to buy as Mobius's laboratory.
As for the experimental equipment and other things...
He could ask Kiana's... great-aunt Theresa to purchase them.
Alternatively, he could contact Asta and have her package up the extra equipment from the space station and ship it to him.
———
[Meanwhile, on the Other Side]
After returning to the Elysian Realm, Mobius discovered that her laboratory was filled with numerous Flame-Chasers.
Almost everyone was there.
The moment Mobius appeared in the laboratory, countless pairs of eyes turned toward her, finally settling on her.
Mobius seemed to realize something. She remained silent, not immediately questioning these people about why they had gathered in her laboratory.
"Oh my, why is everyone so quiet? Why are you all staring at Mobius like that?"
Noticing the somewhat tense atmosphere, Elysia stepped forward to ease the tension. Then, with a curious expression, she asked:
"Mobius, were you playing hide-and-seek with us just now?"
"May I ask where you were hiding?"
Just moments ago, Mobius's life signs had disappeared completely from the Realm.
Klein, who had detected this, urgently contacted the other Flame-Chasers.
That was how all the Flame-Chasers had ended up gathering in the laboratory.
Except for a few who couldn't make it, every Flame-Chaser who could come had arrived.
Even those who didn't get along particularly well with Mobius had rushed over after receiving Klein's message.
A Flame-Chaser's life signs had vanished from the Realm, and the one who had disappeared was none other than Mobius, the person most obsessed with life. Naturally, everyone couldn't help feeling somewhat panicked.
Something had happened to the Realm.
That thought had occurred to all of them at the same time.
The Realm had been running for tens of thousands of years. It hadn't always been peaceful, and problems occasionally arose.
However, with Klein serving as its maintenance operator, any problems were always resolved as soon as they appeared.
Moreover, none of the problems they had encountered in the past had ever affected the Flame-Chasers themselves.
But this time...
One of the Flame-Chasers had disappeared from the Realm entirely.
They had been investigating and discussing the reason for Mobius's disappearance in her laboratory, as well as where she might be now.
Whether she was alive or dead.
All these discussions came to a halt when Mobius herself appeared before them.
"Hide-and-seek?"
Mobius tilted her head and revealed a gentle smile. "I was just conducting an experiment. There was only a little accident."
"Didn't you always research the mysteries of life? Why have you switched to the field of machinery?"
A voice that Mobius absolutely detested rang out in the laboratory. The speaker teased her with a hint of amusement in her voice.
"In that case, you'll have to call me Senior."
"Come on, say 'Senior' for me."
"Your mother is dead."
Vill-V froze for a moment and gave Mobius, who had cursed so abruptly without any warning, a strange look.
This was far too unlike Mobius.
Even when she usually insulted people, she wouldn't use those words.
Why was she being so direct today?
Could it be that the stimulation Elysia had given her last time was still affecting her mental state?
As she thought about it, her gaze shifted toward the only doctor among the Flame-Chasers, Su.
At present, only he could professionally assess Mobius's mental state.
He could also offer appropriate treatment recommendations.
However, compared to Mobius's current mental condition, Su, Kevin, Elysia, and all the other Flame-Chasers were far more concerned about why Mobius had disappeared.
And where she had gone after disappearing.
These questions...
Vill-V looked at Mobius and pretended to wipe away nonexistent tears. "This is so heartbreaking."
'Am I really the only one who cares about Mobius's health?'
The other Flame-Chasers: "..."
'Heartbreaking?'
If Mobius's mental state really does turn out to be problematic after the examination, won't you just become happy again?
Watching Vill-V wipe away her tears, they became even more convinced that, compared to Mobius's mental state, Vill-V was the one who deserved closer observation and attention.
"Auntie Mobius."
A soft voice rang out. The smile on Mobius's face stiffened, and she lowered her gaze toward the Flame-Chaser who had spoken.
Her eyes narrowed. "Call me Big Sister."
"Mm, no." Griseo shook her head. "Mommy said that I mustn't say things I don't mean."
Mobius really wanted to ask, "How does calling yourself Big Sister count as saying something you don't mean?"
If anyone else dared to address her like that, the bare minimum would be making them lie on an operating table for a while. But the person addressing her this way was Griseo...
There was nothing she could do. She would just give the girl a couple of candies.
"Waaah." Griseo spoke as she ate. "All the other uncles and aunties are really worried about Auntie Mobius's safety."
Hearing Griseo include everyone equally, Mobius admitted that she felt much better.
"..."
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